Contact socket for electrical devices,such as relays

ABSTRACT

A contact socket for electrical devices including a base member made from insulating material and having an opening in the form of an elongated window opening to one side of the base member and leading to an enlarged diameter chamber opening to the opposite side of the base member. The chamber terminates into a reduced diameter neck portion leading along a portion of the window for receiving a narrowed neck of a contact member. The contact member has a widened portion longer than the elongated window and has a shoulder engaging the top of the base member, a narrower portion fitting in the elongated window and a connecting portion leading from the narrower portion. A pair of wings extend radially from the connecting portion beneath the narrower portion. The enlarged diameter chamber has oppositely inclined top surfaces converging to an apex. When the contact member is inserted in the socket through the window with the shoulder abutting the top of the base, the wings will lie along the apex of the chamber and, as twisted, will engage the inclined surfaces of the top wall of the chamber and be cammed thereby to tighten the contact member in the window and bring the shoulder in firm engagement with the top of the base. An insulating compound can be inserted into the chamber to seal the window and the solder side of the contact member.

iJnited States Patent [191 Aidn et al.

[ Sept. 3, 1974 A 221 Filed:

[ CONTACT SOCKET FOR ELECTRICAL DEVICES, SUCH AS RELAYS [75] Inventors: Martin Aidn; Gerhard Furtwa-Ngler, both of Munich, Germanyv [73] Assignee: Seimens AG, Berlin & Munich,

Germany Apr. 12, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 350,317

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Apr. 17, 1972 Germany 2218501 [52] US. Cl. 339/220 R, 24/73 R [51] Int. Cl H01r 9/08 [58] Field of Search 339/220 R, 220 A, 220 C, 339/220 L, 220 T, 60 R, 276 R, 221; 24/73 R Primary Examiner-Bobby R. Gay

Assistant ExaminerRobert A. Hafer Attorney, Agent, or Firml-lill, Gross, Simpson, Van Santen, Steadman, Chiara & Simpson [5 7] ABSTRACT A contact socket for electrical devices including a base member made from insulating material and having an opening in the form of an elongated window opening to one side of the base member and leading to an enlarged diameter chamber opening to the opposite side of the base member. The chamber terminates into a reduced diameter neck portion leading along a portion of the window for receiving a narrowed neck of a contact member. The contact member has a widened portion longer than the elongated window and has a shoulder engaging the top of the base member, a narrower portion fitting in the elongated window and a connecting portion leading from the narrower portion. A pair of wings extend radially from the connecting portion beneath the narrower portion. The enlarged diameter chamber has oppositely inclined top surfaces converging to an apex. When the contact member is inserted in the socket through the window with the shoulder abutting the top of the base, the wings will lie along the apex of the chamber and, as twisted, will engage the inclined surfaces of the top wall of the chamber and be cammed thereby to tighten the contact member in the window and bring the shoulder in firm engagement with the top of the base. An insulating compound can be inserted into the chamber to seal the window and the solder side of the contact member.

5 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures CONTACT SOCKET FOR ELECTRICAL DEVICES,

SUCH AS RELAYS FIELD OF THE INVENTION Contact socket for electrical devices, such as relays and the like.

BACKGROUND, SUMMARY AND ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION It is a prerequisite in the design of relays and other electrical devices that the stationary contact parts be so anchored as to be stable and immovable, since the change of the positions of the contacts after installation results in the disadvantageous necessity of readjusting the contacts to their original position. The contacts fur ther are frequently moved out of their required positions by the influence of forces from the outside, particularly if the connecting lugs simultaneously serve to attach the contact parts in the insulating material of the components.

Stamped flat contact studs have formerly been connected to an insulating member by twisting over a plastic edge of insulating material. This results in an inexpensive method of affixing the contact parts to the insulating member. With such contact parts, a contact member is provided which becomes thinner in the area of twisting over the plastic edge of the insulating material.

However, the mere twisting of the thinned portion of the contact part over the plastic edge is not sufficient to hold the contact in firm position, and in many cases, the twisted connection of the thinner contact lugs can retwist as in a coarse thread due to an axial force on the contact lugs. Where thicker twisting connections are used, many times the connecting lugs will tear and partially shear off and lose their ability to hold the contacts in the plastic insulating member. Also, the edge of the insulating member engaged by the connecting lugs, oftentime breaks off during twisting or during use of the socket device, due to the exceeding of the allowable stresses on the contacts, with the resultant loss in a reliable attachment of the contact parts to the insulating member.

The present invention overcomes these difficulties by creating a camming attachment for the contact parts in an insulating socket, which in addition to avoiding the disadvantages of twisted contact connections heretofore mentioned, ensures a tight fit of the contact in the insulating member. In addition, the contact member may be sealed in its socket by its fit in its socket or by additional sealing material placed in the socket, which seals the solder of the soldered connection from passing through the insulating member and provides a mechanical protection against the liability of the contact member to be pressed back out of its socket.

An advantage of the present invention is that a stable mounting for a contact member in the socket of an insulating member is attained by twisting the contact part to be brought into tightened engagement with the contact member by camming shoulders formed within the insulating member.

A further advantage of the invention is the arrangement of the contact member and window and socket in the insulating member effecting closing of the window of the insulating member and assuring that axial forces on the contact part will have no affect on the position of the contact parts or the insulating member.

The foregoing advantages are attained by providing an insulating member with an elongated window open.- ing to the top side thereof and an enlarged diameter chamber opening to the bottom side thereof and providing a free space in which a twisting can take place along with a twisting chamber in the elongated window, and the provision of the contact member with a shoulder engaging one side of the insulating member and a. twistable neck in the twisting chamber. Wings-determining the lower margin of the neck and engaging inclined camming surfaces on the inner portions of the enlarged diameter chamber, so arranged thatduring twisting of the contact part of the contact member, the wings will be cammed by the inclined camming surfaces, to bring the shoulder of the contact member into tight engagement with the insulating member.

A- further advantage of this connection is the attaining of a tight mounting of the contact parts and the retaining of the contact parts in the insulating memberto relatively close tolerances.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, although variations and modifications may be effected without departing from the spirit and scope of the novel concepts of the disclosure.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view taken through a part of an insulating member or base for the socket and showing the contact part in its twisted and tightened position in the insulating member.

FIG. 2 is a bottom plan view of the contact and insulating member shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken through the contact member along the longer dimensions of the window.

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view taken through the insulating member and taken at right angles with respect to FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a view in side elevation of a contact member constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention; and

FIG. 6 is an end view of the contact member shown in FIG. 5.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED FORM OF INVENTION posite face of said base member. The connecting end 3 may be connected to a circuit through a soldered connection, or may be a plug-in contact member, if required or desired.

The base member 1 has an elongated window 5 opening-to the top thereof and of a length substantially equal to the length of a reduced width shouldered part 11 of the contact member depending from a shoulder 10 of said contact member. The window 5 leads to a twisting chamber 6 formed by partial cylindrical enlargements of the side wall portions of said window beneath the top of the base I. Said window and twisting chamber in turn terminate into a downwardly opening enlarged diameter chamber 9 having a generally cylindrical side wall and inclined top walls 8 converging to an apex 11a in alignment with the longitudinal center of the window 5, and extending beyond opposite ends of said window. The inclined top walls 8 of the chamber 9 form camming surfaces engaged by laterally extending wings 7 extending from opposite sides of the connecting part 3 and defining the lower margins of a neck 12 of the contact part.

The inclined top portions 8 of the chamber 9 are shown in FIG. 4 as inclined in opposite directions and adapted to be engaged by top surfaces 7a of the wings 7 and serve as camming surfaces to bring the shoulder 10 into tight engagementwith the tops of the base 1 upon twisting the connection part 3 and wings 7 about the reduced neck 12 of the connector.

In assembling and tightening the contact to the base 1, the contact is inserted in the top of the base through the window with the reduced width portion 11 extending along said window until the shoulder engages a top of the base. The top surfaces 7a of the wings 7 will then extend along the apex of oppositely inclined top walls 8 of the enlarged diameter chamber 9.

The connector 3 and wings 7 may then be twisted to twist the neck 12 and move the top surfaces 7a of the wings 7 along the oppositely inclined surfaces 8 and cam said wings to draw the shoulder 10 into tight engagement with the base 1, to form a rigid mounting for the contact part 2 and its connecting end 3 in said base, by a simple twisting action. As shown in FIG. 2, the connecting part 3 and wings 7 may be twisted substantially 45 relative to the center line of the window 5 to provide the rigid connection required.

After the connector has been firmly connected to the base 1 by twisting the wings 7 and the connecting parts 3 to the position shown in FIG. 2, the chamber 9 may be filled with an insulating compound to seal the solder side of the window 5 and to further increase the stability of the connecting part 3 in the base 1.

We claim as our invention:

1. In a contact socket for electrical devices,

a base made from insulating material having top and bottom surfaces and an elongated window leading through the top surface thereof and having communication with the bottom surface thereof, a main chamber leading from said window and opening to the bottom surface of the base and having at least one arcuately inclined top camming surface,

a twisting chamber extending upwardly of said inclined camming surface and recessed in side walls of said window,

a flat contact part having a shoulder engageable with the top of said base,

a reduced width portion fitting within said window,

a reduced neck depending from said reduced width portion and having oppositely extending wings defining the lower margins thereof and having engagement with said inclined camming surface of said main chamber and bringing said shoulder into tight engagement with the top surface of said base upon twisting movement of said wings about said neck.

2. The socket device of claim 1, wherein the top of said main chamber forms said inclined camming sur face and is arcuately inclined upwardly in opposite directions toward an apex in alignment with the longitudinal center of said window, accommodating the top surfaces of said wings to lie along said apex when inserting the contact part through said window and having camming engagement with the top surfaces of said wings to cam said shoulder of said contact part into tight engagement with the top surface of said base, upon twisting of said wings about said neck.

3. The socket device of claim 2, in which a connector member depends from said wings to serve as a solder connector, and wherein the window has parallel side walls spaced apart a distance substantially equal to the thickness of said connector.

4. The socket device of claim 3, in which the twisting chamber comprises alignedrecesses in said parallel side walls of said window having partial cylindrical wall portions, with a top wall closing the twisting chamber to the top surface except through the window, and with said window forming a generally cylindrical twisting chamber.

5. The socket device of claim 3, in which the downwardly opening camming main chamber is filled with an insulating and sealing compound. 

1. In a contact socket for electrical devices, a base made from insulating material having top and bottom surfaces and an elongated window leading through the top surface thereof and having communication with the bottom surface thereof, a main chamber leading from said window and opening to the bottom surface of the base and having at least one arcuately inclined top camming surface, a twisting chamber extending upwardly of said inclined camming surface and recessed in side walls of said window, a flat contact part having a shoulder engageable with the top of said base, a reduced width portion fitting within said window, a reduced neck depending from said reduced width portion and having oppositely extending wings defining the lower margins thereof and having engagement with said inclined camming surface of said main chamber and bringing said shoulder into tight engagement with the top surface of said base upon twisting movement of said wings about said neck.
 2. The socket device of claim 1, wherein the top of said main chamber forms said inclined camming surface and is arcuately inclined upwardly in opposite directions toward an apex in alignment with the longitudinal center of said window, accommodating the top surfaces of said wings to lie along said apex when inserting the contact part through said window and having camming engagement with the top surfaces of said wIngs to cam said shoulder of said contact part into tight engagement with the top surface of said base, upon twisting of said wings about said neck.
 3. The socket device of claim 2, in which a connector member depends from said wings to serve as a solder connector, and wherein the window has parallel side walls spaced apart a distance substantially equal to the thickness of said connector.
 4. The socket device of claim 3, in which the twisting chamber comprises aligned recesses in said parallel side walls of said window having partial cylindrical wall portions, with a top wall closing the twisting chamber to the top surface except through the window, and with said window forming a generally cylindrical twisting chamber.
 5. The socket device of claim 3, in which the downwardly opening camming main chamber is filled with an insulating and sealing compound. 